S'pore minister criticizes job bias

S'pore minister criticizes job bias

SINGAPORE (AP): A Cabinet minister said on Tuesday the government would not introduce legislation to end racial, gender or age discrimination in jobs, but urged the Chinese business community to educate employers against such practices.

"It is unfortunate that a minority of employers still specify racial, age or gender preferences in recruitment notices," Minister of Manpower Lee Boon Yang said in a Lunar New Year's Day speech to the Singapore-Chinese Chamber of Commerce.

He said they "should not put unrelated criteria in the forefront". However, he repeated comments made to Parliament last week that the government will not introduce legislation to ban such discrimination.

Job advertisements with racial, gender and age requirements have been common in Singapore for some time. But in a society with little unemployment, few people complained.